Ovadia Yosef
|
|
Ovadia Yosef (born 1920) is an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, Talmud scholar and a recognized authority in halakha ("Jewish Law"). He is the former Sephardic chief rabbi of the State of Israel and is the current spiritual leader of the Shas political party in Israel. A major figure in Haredi Judaism and revered by his followers, he considers voting in elections the key to influencing the State of Israel.
| Contents |
Biography
Rabbi Yosef was born in Baghdad, Iraq, but moved to Jerusalem with his family when he was four years old. He received semicha ("rabbinical ordination") at the age of 20. He served at various times as chief rabbi of the country of Egypt, the city of Tel Aviv and the city of Haifa.
Rabbi Yosef is considered to be a genius scholar with an encyclopedic memory, and a grand Halacha arbiter (פוסק הלכות, posek halakot) among many religious Jews. He is generally considered one of the most important religious authorities for Sephardic Jews. He lives in the Jerusalem neighbourhood of Har Nof.
Some of his more famous verdicts are:
- It is legitimate and allowed to give territory from the land of Israel in order to achieve true peace.
- A collective recognitation in the Jewishness of the Ethiopian immigrants, after there was a suspicion that they were not properly converted to Judaism according to halakha (Jewish law).
- Allowing wives of soldiers who have been missing in action for a long time to marry again, a verdict which is known as "התרת עגונות" (the unchaining of agunoth).
In April 2005, Israeli security services arrested three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), who had been observing Yosef in public and are being held on the suspicion of intended murderTemplate:Ref.
Controversy
Template:Wikiquote Among secular Israelis, Yosef is mainly famous for being the leader of the political party called Shas and for his fierce and sharp rhetoric, often combined with curses and ill-wishes to hated political leaders. Some argue that Yosef's quotes are hate speech.
Reactions to Yosef's "political" quotes have ranged from fury (the extreme Hofesh movement called for Yosef to be tried for incitement) to laughter. Shas spokespeople and Yosef's followers argue that his quotes were taken out of context and that they include technical religious terms (which the average person is not familiar with) and therefore misunderstood. For instance, Yosef is sometimes quoted as saying "The Lord shall return the Murderers' deeds on their own heads, waste their seed and exterminate them, devastate them and vanish them from this world." However, this is a quote from the Jewish scriptures.
Influence
In an article by MaarivTemplate:Ref, Yosef was described as the second most influential Rabbi in Israel, second only to Rabbi Yosef Shalom Eliashiv. He was described as:
- The spiritual leader of Shas. The man most identified with the honorific title "Maran". He has considerable political strength, mainly because he controls the Knesset members of Shas.
However, the key influence of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef is in the religious arena of halakha:
- In addition, he has great influence in teaching and endowing of his Halakha way. Prayers Siddur according to Yosef's verdicts are the most common in Sepharadi synagogues, and his Halakha books gained circulation beyond compare. Almost no one disputes the fact he is a Torah phenomenon, one of a kind. Despite this, he is "field Rabbi" and goes down to the common people with countless sermons. ...
Bibliography
Among Yosef's earliest works was a detailed commentary on the Ben Ish Hai. He was asked to finish the commentary Kaf Ha'Chaim by Rabbi Chaim Sofer after the author's death. Two sets of Yosef's responsa have been published, Yabia Omer and Yechavei Da'ath (both titles are references to Psalm 19). His responsa are noted for citing almost every source regarding a specific topic and are often referred to simply as indexes of rulings. Yosef has printed a commentary of the Mishnah tractate Sayings of the Fathers under the title Anaf Etz Avot and commentary on various parts of the Talmud. His son, Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef, has published a widely read codification of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's rulings called Yalkut Yosef. Another son, Rabbi David Yosef, has printed various prayer books and liturgy according to Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's rulings.
Notes
- Template:Note PFLP members held in plot to assassinate Rabbi Ovadia Yosef (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/566096.html) Haaretz 18/4/2005 (English)
- Template:Note Israel's most influencial Rabbis (http://www.nrg.co.il/online/11/ART/766/967.html) by Maariv 12/8/2004 (Hebrew)